Appeal No. 2000-1111
Application 08/881,969
THE REFERENCES
In rejecting the appealed claims under 35 U.S.C §103, the Examiner relies on the
following references:
Smith, Jr. (Smith) 4,443,559 Apr. 17, 1984
Adams (Adams) 0,458,472 May 15, 1995
(European Patent)
THE REJECTIONS
Claims 1 and 4-15 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) as being
unpatentable over Adams taken alone or with Smith.
SUMMARY OF DECISION
On consideration of the record before us on appeal, we reverse.
DISCUSSION
The Claimed Invention
The Appellants’ invention relates generally to a reactive distillation unit in which a
chemical reaction and distillation are carried out simultaneously, and a packing structure
which houses a randomly situated particulate catalyst component. More specifically as
claimed, the invention relates to a saddle-shaped packing structure which is formed by
outer and inner saddle-shaped shell elements and a particulate catalyst component.
The outer shell element includes a porous, semicylindrical side wall with axially spaced
marginal edges and a pair of radially opposed, laterally extending flanges. The inner
shell element also includes a porous, semicylindrical side wall presenting axially spaced
marginal edges and a pair of radially opposed, laterally extending flanges. The inner
side wallof the shell element is of a smaller radius than the outer side wall. An interior
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